Amidium-based ionic liquids for carbon dioxide absorption

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a carbon dioxide absorbent, an ionic liquid obtained by reacting amide and an organic acid and a method of using the same. The amidium-based ionic liquid of the present invention has excellent CO 2  absorption capability, which is hardly reduced even with repeated use, is easy to synthesize and has low manufacturing cost thus being useful as a CO 2  absorbent.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/570,559, filed Sep. 30, 2009 which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.§119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0019259 filed on Mar.6, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

(a) Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for using an amidium-basedionic liquid obtained by reacting amide and an organic acid as a carbondioxide absorbent. More particularly, the present invention relates to acarbon dioxide absorbent, which has excellent carbon dioxide absorptioncapability, preferably comprising an amidium-based ionic liquid, whichis suitably easy to synthesize and has a low manufacturing cost.

(b) Background Art

Methods of separating CO₂ from exhaust gases released from largeboilers, chemical plants, power plants as well as a natural gas includeabsorption, adsorption, membrane separation, and cryogenics. In certaincases, when the CO₂ concentration being released is low, the method ofabsorption is preferred. The absorption method is commonly used inindustry because it enables the selective separation of certain gaseswhich are well absorbed to an absorbent. However, the absorbent that isused is partially inactivated during the separation and is thus requiredto be replaced periodically. Preferably, the absorption method employs aliquid absorbent and can be easily replaced, and therefore this methodis used in the purification of a large amount of exhaust gases or in gasseparation

Preferred examples of the carbon dioxide absorbent include aqueousamine-based solutions such as monoethanolamine (MEA),N-methyldiethanolamine (NDEA), diethanolamine (DEA). This is because,when the amine absorbent, which has weak alkalinity, is bound to CO₂,which is an acidic gas, and is heat-treated, CO₂ can be released andcollected while the absorbent is recycled. However, when using thistechnology, the impurities such as SOx and NOx contained in the absorbedgas tend to decompose amines; heating the absorbent bound to CO₂ forbreaking the chemical bond between CO₂ and the absorbent irreversiblydecomposes amines and subsequently deteriorates the capability of theabsorbents; the fresh absorbents need to be replenished; amines or theirdecomposed products cause corrosion of absorption apparatus; high vaporpressure of amines causes the contamination of the CO₂ gas released.

To address the above-described properties of the above-mentioned aqueousamine-based absorbents, there have been reports on methods of physicallyabsorbing CO₂ by using an organic solvent such as Selexol, IFPexol, NFM,etc.

An important feature of the organic solvent as an absorbent is that CO₂absorption is proceeded via physical interaction between the solvent andCO₂, not by the chemical bond as in the case of the aqueous amine-basedabsorbents, thus requiring a relatively low energy in CO₂ recovery andsolvent recycling.

In the case of using an amine-based absorbent, CO₂ recovery and solventrecycling processes require stripping at high temperature, which is anenergy intensive process. However, in the case of physical absorptionCO₂ can be recovered by means of changing pressure without increasingtemperature.

Physical absorption has a low CO₂ absorption capability. An organicsolvent in general has much lower CO₂ absorption capability than aqueousamine-based solution, and thus the circulation rate of an absorbent ishigh thereby requiring larger equipment.

Physical absorption has a high circulation rate. The physical absorptionprocess by an organic solvent generally requires a circulation rate thatis twice as high as that of an aqueous amine-based solution, thusrequiring high cost for capital and operation & maintenance.

Physical absorption has a high loss of a solvent. The solvents used inphysical absorption have a high vapor pressure and thus can be readilylost during the absorption and regeneration processes. The loss can besuitably minimized by a process of cooling or washing, but to do sorequires the installation of additional equipment.

Therefore, there has been an urgent need for the development of a novelabsorbent that can replace both amine-based absorbents and organicsolvent absorbents, and can resolve the above-mentioned drawbacks ofamine-based absorbents and organic solvent absorbents.

As a way to resolve the problems of the conventional absorbents, U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,849,774 and 6,623,659 and published U.S. Pat. ApplicationNo. 2008/0146849, incorporated by reference in their entireties herein,disclose attempts made to use ionic liquids, which have no volatility,but with high thermal stability, and maintain liquid state at lowtemperature of 100 C or below.

An ionic liquid is a salt compound consisting of organic cations andorganic or inorganic anions where gas molecules such as CO, CO₂, SO₂,and N₂O can be well dissolved.

The solubility of a gas to be absorbed into an ionic liquid variesdepending on the degree of the mutual interaction between the gas andthe ionic liquid. Therefore, the degree of solubility of a gas can becontrolled to some extent by adjusting polarity, acidity, alkalinity,and nucleophilicity of an ionic liquid.

Examples of ionic liquids include, but are not limited to, organiccations containing nitrogen such as imidazolium, pyrazolium, triazolium,pyridinium, pyridazinium, pyrimidinium (a quarternary ammonium);halogens such as Cl—, Br—, and I—; and anions such as BF₄—, PF₆—,(CF₃SO₂)₂N—, CF₃SO₃—, MeSO₃—, NO₃—, CF₃CO₂—, and CH₃CO₂—. In particular,anions containing F atom are known to have relatively high CO₂absorption power.

Ionic liquid absorbents have much lower CO₂ absorption capability thanthe amine-based absorbent. Also, ionic liquid absorbents are detrimentalto moisture content thus being readily decomposed by the water containedin a mixed gas, thereby gradually decreasing in absorption power. Ionicliquid absorbents are is not considered economical due to its highmanufacturing cost.

The anions containing F atom such as tetrafluoroborate (BF₄—),hexafluorophosphate (PF₆—), trifluorosulfonimide[(CF_(S)SO₂)₂N—] havehigh solubility of the acidic gases including CO₂ and CS₂. However, themanufacturing process of the ionic liquid is rather complex requiring atleast 2 steps and also its manufacturing cost is very high thus notsuitable for industrial application.

The above information disclosed in this the Background section is onlyfor enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention andtherefore it may contain information that does not form the prior artthat is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill inthe art.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one aspect, the present invention features an amidium-based ionicliquid, which was suitably obtained by reacting amide and carboxylicacid, has high absorption capability for carbon dioxide, has highthermal and chemical stabilities, has low viscosity comparable to anorganic solvent, is suitably easy to synthesize and has a suitably lowmanufacturing cost.

Preferably, an object of the present invention, according to oneembodiment, is to provide a carbon dioxide absorbent comprising anamidium-based ionic liquid.

Another object of the present invention, according to further preferredembodiments, is to provide a method for suitably separating carbondioxide from a mixed gas by using the carbon dioxide absorbent.

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention relates to a carbondioxide absorbent, which is an ionic liquid, represented by thefollowing formula 1:

-   -   wherein R¹ is C₁-C₈ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl; R² is C₁-C₆ alkyl or        C₅-C₁₅ aryl; R³ is C₁-C₆ alkyl, C₁-C₆ haloallyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl.

The above features and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanyingdrawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of thisspecification, and the following Detailed Description, which togetherserve to explain by way of example the principles of the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail with reference to certain exemplary embodimentsthereof illustrated the accompanying drawings which are given hereinbelow by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of thepresent invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for CO₂ absorptionexperiment.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the amount of CO₂ absorbed as increasingpressure in the system.

Reference numerals set forth in the Drawings includes reference to thefollowing elements as further discussed below:

100: CO₂ absorption reactor 101: valve 102: valve 110: shaker 120:thermometer 200: high pressure transducer 300: cylinder for CO₂ storage301: valve 310: thermometer 400: pressure gauge 500: container for CO₂supply 501: valve 502: valve

It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarilyto scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of variouspreferred features illustrative of the basic principles of theinvention. The specific design features of the present invention asdisclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions,orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by theparticular intended application and use environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As described herein, the present invention includes a carbon dioxideabsorbent, which is an ionic liquid, comprising an amidium-based cationand an anion of an organic acid represented by formula 1:

wherein R¹ is C₁-C₈ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl; R² is C₁-C₆ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅aryl; R³ is C₁-C₆ alkyl, C₁-C₆ haloalkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl.

In certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the amidium-basedcation is derived from N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-diethylformamide,N,N-diisopropylformamide, N,N-dibutylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide,N,N-diethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylpropionamide, N,N-dimethylbenzamide,N,N-diethylbenzamide, 1-formylpiperidine, caprolactam orN-methylpyrrolidone.

In other preferred embodiments, the anion of an organic acid is derivedfrom acetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, chloroacetic acid, propionicacid, butanoic acid, hexanoic acid or benzoic acid.

The invention also features, a method of separating carbon dioxide froma gas mixture comprising absorbing carbon dioxide using said carbondioxide absorbent according to any one of the aspects as describedherein.

In one embodiments, the method further comprises stripping said absorbedcarbon dioxide from said carbon dioxide absorbent.

In another embodiment, the absorption of carbon dioxide is performed at0-80 C.

In still another embodiment, the absorption of carbon dioxide isperformed under a pressure between atmospheric pressure and 60 atm.

In yet another embodiment, the absorption of carbon dioxide is performedat between room temperature and 100 C.

In still another embodiment, the stripping is performed under a pressureof near zero to atmospheric pressure.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a carbon dioxideabsorbent, which is an ionic liquid, comprising an amidium-based cationand an anion of an organic acid represented by the following formula 1:

wherein R¹ is C₁-C₈ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl; R² is C₁-C₆ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅aryl; R³ is C₁-C₆ alkyl, C₁-C₆ haloalkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl.

The above alkyl group is preferably a linear or branched hydrocarbon. Inparticular preferred embodiments, for example the linear or branchedhydrocarbon can be, for example, ethyl, methyl, propyl, butyl, pentyl,hexyl, etc., but is not limited to these.

Preferably, the above aryl group includes an aromatic group and itspartially reduced derivatives thereof. In further related embodiments,the above aromatic group is a simple or fused cyclic form of a pentagonor a pentadecagon.

In other exemplary embodiments, the representing examples of the arylgroup are phenyl, benzyl, naphthyl, imidazolyl, etc., but are notlimited to these.

According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the abovehaloalkyl group is meant to refer to an alkyl group where one or more ofthe hydrogen atom is substituted with a halogen atom, such astrifluoromethyl and chloromethyl, but is not limited to these.

Preferably, the ionic liquid of the present invention represented by thefollowing formula 1 can be suitably prepared by reacting amiderepresented by the following formula 2 and an organic acid representedby the following formula 3,

wherein R¹ is C₁-C₈ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl; R² is C₁-C₆ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅aryl; and R³ is C₁-C₆ alkyl, C₁-C₆ haloalkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl.

Examples of the amide compounds represented by the above formula 2include, but are not necessarily limited to, N,N-dimethylformamide(DMF), N,N-diethylformamide (DEF), N,N-diisopropylformamide (DIF),N,N-dibutylformamide (DBF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc),N,N-diethylacetamide (DEAc), N,N-dimethylpropionamide (DMP),N,N-dimethylbenzamide (DMBz), N,N-diethylbenzamide (DEBz),1-formylpiperidine (1-FP), caprolactam (caprolactam, CAP), andN-methylpyrrolidone (NMP).

Examples of the organic acids represented by the above formula 3include, but are not necessarily limited to, acetic acid (AA),trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), chloroacetic acid (CA), propionic acid (PA),butanoic acid (BA), hexanoic acid (HA), and benzoic acid (BZA).

According to further preferred embodiments, the carbon dioxide absorbentof the present invention comprises single or a mixture of at least twoamide-based ionic liquid. In related embodiments, it has a relativelylow viscosity while maintaining a liquid state at room temperature.

In another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method forsuitably separating carbon dioxide from a mixed gas by using a carbondioxide absorbent, comprising:

(1) absorbing carbon dioxide using a carbon dioxide absorbent comprisingat least one amide-based ionic liquid represented by the above formula1, and

(2) stripping the absorbed carbon dioxide from the carbon dioxideabsorbent.

In further embodiments of the method described herein, the absorption ofcarbon dioxide in the above step (1) is preferably conducted at between0-80 C, more preferably at 20 C-50 C, and in still other furtherembodiments, the method is carried out under a pressure of atmosphericpressure to 60 atm.

Preferably, in carbon dioxide absorption, the amount of carbon dioxideabsorption suitably increases as the temperature becomes lower and thehigher the pressure. Preferably, the amount of carbon dioxide absorptionshows a linear increase in proportion to the increase in pressure.

According to preferred embodiments, the stripping of the absorbed carbondioxide in the above step (2) is preferably performed at between roomtemperature and 100 C, more preferably at 40 C-80 C, preferably under apressure near zero to atmospheric pressure.

The examples of the above mixed gas include the exhaust gas in chemicalplants, power plants and large boilers, and a natural gas.

EXAMPLES

The following examples illustrate the invention and are not intended tolimit the same.

Preparation Example. Preparation of Amidium-Based Ionic Liquids

0.2 mole of amide was added to a 100 mL flask equipped with a refluxcondenser, a dropping funnel and a magnetic rod and then dropwiselyadded 0.2 mole of an organic acid contained in the dropping funnelthereto while stirring. Upon completion of the reaction, the volatilematerials contained in the product from the reaction were suitablyremoved under vacuum to obtain a transparent hydrophobic amidium-basedionic liquid.

Example 1 CO₂ Absorption Capability of DMFH-TFA

DMFH-TFA (N,N-dimethylformamidium trifluoroacetate), an ionic liquid,was prepared by using DMF (N,N-dimethylformamid) and TFA(trifluoroacetatic acid) according to method in the above PreparationExample.

CO₂ absorption capability of DMFH-TFA was suitably measured by using anapparatus in FIG. 1. The apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 is similar to theone generally used in physical absorption process, comprising a 60 mLstainless steel absorption reactor (100) equipped with a thermometer(120), a pressure transducer (200) for high pressure (0-1000 psi), a 75mL cylinder for storage (300) equipped with a thermometer (300), and ashaker (110). This apparatus is suitably installed inside a constanttemperature chamber to measure CO₂ absorption capability. Outside theconstant temperature chamber are a container for CO₂ supply (500) and apressure gauge (400).

To the absorption reactor (100) of FIG. 1 was added 10 g of ionic liquid(N,N-dimethylformamidium trifluoroacetate, DMFH-TFA) synthesized byreaction between DMF and TFA, and CO₂ absorption experiment wasconducted while maintaining the chamber at 40 C.

After filling a cylinder for CO₂ storage (300) with CO₂ at certainpressure, a valve (102) was open to expand by an absorption reactor(100) to adjust the initial pressure of the absorption reactor (100) andthe whole system at 1 atm, the degree of pressure decrease in thecylinder for CO₂ storage (300) was measured until it reached anabsorption equilibrium and then the amount of CO₂ dissolved in the ionicliquid was suitably calculated by using a gas state equation.

Preferably, in the same manner, the pressure of the whole system wasadjusted so that the initial CO₂ pressure of the absorption reactor(100) became 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 50, respectively, and then the amountof CO₂ e absorption according to pressure change was suitably measured.The results are shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the amount of CO₂ absorption of DMFH-TFA rapidlyincreased in proportion to the increase in the CO₂ pressure.

Examples 2-6 CO₂ Absorption Capability of DMFH-TFA According toTemperature

CO₂ absorption experiment was conducted in the same manner as describedin Example 1 by using DMFH-IFA as an ionic liquid, fixing absorptionpressure at 20 atm, while varying the absorption temperature accordingto Table 1. The results are also shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Amount of CO₂ Absorption temperature absorption Example Ionicliquid (° C.) (gmole/IL gmole) 2 DMFH-TFA 20 0.695 3 DMFH-TFA 30 0.610 4DMFH-TFA 40 0.508 5 DMFH-TFA 50 0.424 6 DMFH-TFA 60 0.341

As shown in the above Table 1, the amount of CO₂ absorbed was highestwhen the absorption temperature was 20 C, and the amount of CO₂ that wasabsorbed decreased as the absorption temperature increased.

Examples 7-12 CO₂ Absorption Capability of DMFH as Varying AnionConstituents

CO₂ absorption experiment was conducted in the same manner as describedin Example 1 by using dimethyl formamidium (DMFH) as a cation of anionic liquid, fixing the absorption temperature at 40 C and absorptionpressure at 20 atm, while varying the anions according to Table 2. Theresults are shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Amount of CO₂ absorption Example Anion CO₂ pressure (atm)(gmole/IL gmole) 7 HA 20 0.355 8 AA 20 0.363 9 BA 20 0.294 10 PA 200.226 11 BZA 20 0.402 12 CA 20 0.398

As shown in the above Table 2, the amount of CO₂ absorption was highestin Example 11 where BZA was used as anion.

Examples 13-26 CO₂ Absorption Capability of TFA as Varying CationConstituents

CO₂ absorption experiment was conducted in the same manner as shown inExample 1 by fixing the absorption temperature at 30 C, absorptionpressure at 20 atm, and using CF₃CO₂-(TFA) as anion of the ionic liquidwhile preferably varying the cation of the ionic liquid according toTable 3 below, thereby measuring equilibration value, and then thepressure was lowered to atmospheric pressure by opening the valve (101)and degassed while varying the temperature as shown in Table 3 below.

After the first absorption and regeneration were completed, the entireprocess of absorption and degassing were repeated 10 times at the samecondition. The initial CO₂ absorption capability and the 10^(th) CO₂absorption capability were compared and the results are shown in Table 3below.

TABLE 3 Amount of CO₂ absorption Regeneration (gmole/IL gmole) ExampleCation temp. (° C.) One Absorption Ten Absorption 14 DMFH 70 0.610 0.60415 DEFH 70 0.637 0.630 16 DIFH 70 0.662 0.655 17 DBFH 70 0.674 0.668 18DMAcH 70 0.602 0.595 19 DEAcH 70 0.631 0.624 20 DMPH 70 0.709 0.702 21DMBzH 70 0.757 0.751 22 DEBzH 70 0.806 0.800 23 1-FPH 70 0.734 0.729 24CAPH 70 0.782 0.775 25 NMPH 70 0.593 0.588 26 DMFH 80 0.609 0.604 27DMFH 40 0.610 0.597

According to the above Table 3, the initial CO₂ absorption capabilityand the 10^(th) CO₂ absorption capability were highest in Example 21where the anion used is DEBzH, respectively.

Examples 27-30 CO₂ Absorption Capability of Ionic Liquids as VaryingIonic Liquid Constituents

CO₂ absorption experiment was conducted in the same manner as in Example1 by fixing the absorption temperature at 30 C, absorption pressure at20 atm, and using two kinds of ionic liquids as shown in Table 4 below.The results are shown in Table 4 below.

TABLE 4 Amount of CO₂ absorption Example Ionic liquid (gmole/IL gmole)27 DMFH-BZA + DEFH-AA 0.408 28 DMFH-PA + NMPH-BZA 0.367 29 DMFH-BZA +DEAcH-AA 0.374 30 DEFH-PA + DMFH-BZA 0.492

According to the above Table 4, the amount of CO₂ absorption was highestin Example 30 where a mixture of DEFH-P and DMFH-BZA was used as anionic liquid.

Comparative Example CO₂ Absorption Capability of Diethanolamine

Experiment of absorbing CO₂ at 1 atm, 30 C by preferably usingdiethanolamine (diethanolamine) instead of an ionic liquid as anabsorbent and regeneration of the absorbent at atmospheric pressure, 110C was conducted similarly as described in Example 13. After the firstabsorption and regeneration were completed, the entire process ofabsorption and regeneration were repeated at the same condition.

CO₂ was absorbed in the amount of 0.1769 gmole/gmole to a solvent in thefirst absorption, and 0.1440 gmol/gmole in the second absorption,indicating that the CO₂ absorption capability was reduced by about 19%.

Therefore, it was confirmed that the CO₂ absorption capability of thesolvent was considerably reduced when compared to those in the Examples.

Also, the results described herein demonstrate that an ionic liquid ismore efficient than an organic solvent absorbent because the ionicliquid has better CO₂ absorption capability than the organic solventabsorbent thus enabling circulation rate and reducing the size of anapparatus.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described herein, the amidium-based ionic liquid of the presentinvention requires a much lower energy for the process of stripping ofabsorbed CO₂ than that of conventional amine-based absorbent requiringsuitably high temperature for CO₂ collection. This is because CO₂ can bemore easily removed from an ionic liquid, where CO₂ is absorbed by meansof physical interaction, than from an amine-based solution, which formsa chemical bond with CO₂.

Further, an ionic liquid is also more efficient than an organic solventabsorbent because the ionic liquid has better CO₂ absorption capabilitythan the organic solvent absorbent thus enabling circulation rate andsuitably reducing the size of an apparatus.

Further, the ionic liquid has a much lower hydrocarbon absorption ratethan the organic solvent absorbent, and thus it can minimize the loss ofhydrocarbons by selectively absorbing only CO₂ during the purificationof hydrocarbons such as a natural gas which contains CO₂ impurities.

According to the present invention, the ionic liquid absorbent hasalmost no loss. The ionic liquid absorbent used in the present inventionhas a very low vapor pressure and thus it can hardly undergo a loss, andthe loss via decomposition is very low because it is chemically andthermally stable.

Further, the amidium-based ionic liquid of the present invention has theadvantages of superior CO₂ absorption capability, can easily strip CO₂,and maintain the level of absorption capability almost equal to that atthe beginning even after repeated use.

While the present invention has been shown and described with referenceto certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A carbon dioxide absorbent, which is anionic liquid, comprising an amidium-based cation and an anion of anorganic acid represented by the following formula 1:

wherein R¹ is C₁-C₈ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl; R² is C₁-C₆ alkyl or C₅-C₁₅aryl; R³ is C₁-C₆ alkyl, C₁-C₆ haloalkyl or C₅-C₁₅ aryl.
 2. The carbondioxide absorbent according to claim 1, wherein said amidium-basedcation is derived from N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-diethylformamide,N,N-diisopropylformamide, N,N-dibutylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide,N,N-diethylacetamide, N,N-dimethylpropionamide, N,N-dimethylbenzamide,N,N-diethylbenzamide, 1-formylpiperidine, caprolactam orN-methylpyrrolidone.
 3. The carbon dioxide absorbent according to claim1, wherein said anion of an organic acid is derived from acetic acid,trifluoroacetic acid, chloroacetic acid, propionic acid, butanoic acid,hexanoic acid or benzoic acid.